Zand
Well-known member
Date(s) Skied: 4/2/06-4/3/06
Resort or Ski Area: Killington, VT
Conditions: Variable, Spring
Trip Report:
This weekend was the most fun I've had all year. BMMC was awesome, Sunday was friggen sweet and Monday was (likely!!) the last day of my season. For Sunday, I'll have the TR and Monday will just be a trail-by-trail as a lot of stuff closed and I skiied the same stuff.
Sunday:
Started off on the K1 at 10:30. Decided I wanted to get straight over to Bear so I headed down Great Eastern. Some spots are thin, but it's covered pretty well. I peeled off onto Wildfire which had nice soft bumps.
Got over to Bear to find out BMMC was scheduled to start at noon. I went up and skiied Outer Limits once. The entire thing was nice soft bumps with deep troughs. There were probably about 100 people skiing it, but that's the fun of it. A few rocks poking through in places, but OL has the best base depth on the mountain.
Went back up the Bear Quad to get over to Northbrook. Took Great Eastern to Cruise Control. Cruise Control was bumped up by then, but pretty soft bumps and a blast to ski.
Next run was up the slow Needle's Eye Express (they don't run it very quickly) to Bittersweet. Upper Bittersweet had frozen over bumps and nasty ice all over the place. Lower had kinder, softer bumps.
Next run was up the Superstar Express and down its namesake. It was groomed down the middle, but it was still frozen and 100% windblown. Tons of people sliding down it and it wasn't much fun.
Next time up the K1, a quick call to the folks and they'll be at Bear at 1, so I figured I'd ski for a while and then get over to watch the top 8. This run was down Cascade. It was scraped down in the middle, but the edges were OK with crud and death cookies.
Next run was up the Canyon Quad and down Rime. Rime is a short blue cruiser that was pretty icy, but I imagine it must be great in October. I hope to be at Killington early season next year and not have to wait until Thanksgiving.
Since I completely missed Great Northern and didn't feel like hiking a bit, I took the Glades Triple and down East Glade. It was similar to Rime. Peeled off onto Great Northern and skied that to Chute. Chute in that particular spot was nasty and thin. Took Bunny Buster to the K1 which was very similar.
Next run was down Great Eastern to Bear, this time going a slightly different way. Took Bear Claw (or Bear Trap, I can't get those 2 straight) to Viper Pit. They were pretty similar to Wildfire.
Got to Bear around 1:15 to "the biggest mogul party in the east." This is what spring skiing is all about. The competition was awesome. Plenty of great skiiers and a few nice wipeouts including a "double front flip ejecto". Also had a nice burger from the BBQ.
The comp ended around 2:30, so I went with about 500 other people to ski Outer Limits. This run wiped me out. Those bumps were getting pretty big and the snow was pretty dense. Managed to completely face plant once, which actually felt pretty good with the warm weather. It was pretty fun watching some skiers fly down the entire thing.
Next run was up the Skye Peak Quad. I wanted to ski Needle's Eye, but got a bit confused finding it. I found the black portion right away, but it had a big grass spot at the top that I didn't feel like going around, so I went over to Skyeburst. Cut onto Dream Maker at some point, then onto Snowshed Crossover, then finally got most of Lower Needle's Eye. All of those trails were nice soft bumps and pretty thin.
Next up was a nice relaxing ride up the Skyeship and then a nice run down Skylark/Bittersweet. That was the way to go, nice soft bumps the whole way.
Took another run down Superstar, which had softened up a little, but the headwalls were still very icy. By then, it was 3:45 and I was tired, so I went back up the quad and went over to Bear via Wildfire. A sweet day 1 at K.
Monday:
Not as good as Sunday. Rained/sleeted a bit around 2 PM or so but it blew by quick. All of Needle's was closed as well as Rams Head, leaving the Superstar Quad, Bear, K1, Snowdon, Glades, and Snowshed.
Superstar: Fast in the morning, but got thick and cruddy in the afternoon. The upper headwall was all ice by the afternoon. Lower's was OK considering it had tons of crud to make turns in.
Skyelark: Skiied it once top-to-bottom. Upper was pretty nice and had soft bumps. Lower was OK, but had many bare and icy spots.
Wildfire: Bumps weren't as good as Sunday. It was kind of sad being at Bear base. Yesterday, there were hundreds of people and a huge party going on. Today, there were 9 cars in the lot and 3 people skiing OL when I rode the quad.
Rime: Crappy the whole way. Tons of ice and slush. One spot was OK, but it only lasted for 500 feet or so and it was just a small area to the side.
East Glade: Same as Rime.
East Fall: First tracks at 9 AM were great. By the afternoon, it was in similar shape to Superstar.
Bunny Buster/Chute: Upper Bunny Buster was friggen nice all day. Probably the best on the mountain. Chute was crappy until after the Bowling Alley.
Last run of the season was Great Northern top to bottom. I tried to make it as long as possible, but I regretted when I was poling across the base at the end.
Well, unless I get back up to K this month, that was likely it for the season. Ended up with 31 days, so I got my goal of 30. Next Year: I want to ski Sugarbush, MRG, Killington, Stowe, Burke, Jay, Ragged, Sunapee, and Beast. I also want to get to Wawa more during the week.
Resort or Ski Area: Killington, VT
Conditions: Variable, Spring
Trip Report:
This weekend was the most fun I've had all year. BMMC was awesome, Sunday was friggen sweet and Monday was (likely!!) the last day of my season. For Sunday, I'll have the TR and Monday will just be a trail-by-trail as a lot of stuff closed and I skiied the same stuff.
Sunday:
Started off on the K1 at 10:30. Decided I wanted to get straight over to Bear so I headed down Great Eastern. Some spots are thin, but it's covered pretty well. I peeled off onto Wildfire which had nice soft bumps.
Got over to Bear to find out BMMC was scheduled to start at noon. I went up and skiied Outer Limits once. The entire thing was nice soft bumps with deep troughs. There were probably about 100 people skiing it, but that's the fun of it. A few rocks poking through in places, but OL has the best base depth on the mountain.
Went back up the Bear Quad to get over to Northbrook. Took Great Eastern to Cruise Control. Cruise Control was bumped up by then, but pretty soft bumps and a blast to ski.
Next run was up the slow Needle's Eye Express (they don't run it very quickly) to Bittersweet. Upper Bittersweet had frozen over bumps and nasty ice all over the place. Lower had kinder, softer bumps.
Next run was up the Superstar Express and down its namesake. It was groomed down the middle, but it was still frozen and 100% windblown. Tons of people sliding down it and it wasn't much fun.
Next time up the K1, a quick call to the folks and they'll be at Bear at 1, so I figured I'd ski for a while and then get over to watch the top 8. This run was down Cascade. It was scraped down in the middle, but the edges were OK with crud and death cookies.
Next run was up the Canyon Quad and down Rime. Rime is a short blue cruiser that was pretty icy, but I imagine it must be great in October. I hope to be at Killington early season next year and not have to wait until Thanksgiving.
Since I completely missed Great Northern and didn't feel like hiking a bit, I took the Glades Triple and down East Glade. It was similar to Rime. Peeled off onto Great Northern and skied that to Chute. Chute in that particular spot was nasty and thin. Took Bunny Buster to the K1 which was very similar.
Next run was down Great Eastern to Bear, this time going a slightly different way. Took Bear Claw (or Bear Trap, I can't get those 2 straight) to Viper Pit. They were pretty similar to Wildfire.
Got to Bear around 1:15 to "the biggest mogul party in the east." This is what spring skiing is all about. The competition was awesome. Plenty of great skiiers and a few nice wipeouts including a "double front flip ejecto". Also had a nice burger from the BBQ.
The comp ended around 2:30, so I went with about 500 other people to ski Outer Limits. This run wiped me out. Those bumps were getting pretty big and the snow was pretty dense. Managed to completely face plant once, which actually felt pretty good with the warm weather. It was pretty fun watching some skiers fly down the entire thing.
Next run was up the Skye Peak Quad. I wanted to ski Needle's Eye, but got a bit confused finding it. I found the black portion right away, but it had a big grass spot at the top that I didn't feel like going around, so I went over to Skyeburst. Cut onto Dream Maker at some point, then onto Snowshed Crossover, then finally got most of Lower Needle's Eye. All of those trails were nice soft bumps and pretty thin.
Next up was a nice relaxing ride up the Skyeship and then a nice run down Skylark/Bittersweet. That was the way to go, nice soft bumps the whole way.
Took another run down Superstar, which had softened up a little, but the headwalls were still very icy. By then, it was 3:45 and I was tired, so I went back up the quad and went over to Bear via Wildfire. A sweet day 1 at K.
Monday:
Not as good as Sunday. Rained/sleeted a bit around 2 PM or so but it blew by quick. All of Needle's was closed as well as Rams Head, leaving the Superstar Quad, Bear, K1, Snowdon, Glades, and Snowshed.
Superstar: Fast in the morning, but got thick and cruddy in the afternoon. The upper headwall was all ice by the afternoon. Lower's was OK considering it had tons of crud to make turns in.
Skyelark: Skiied it once top-to-bottom. Upper was pretty nice and had soft bumps. Lower was OK, but had many bare and icy spots.
Wildfire: Bumps weren't as good as Sunday. It was kind of sad being at Bear base. Yesterday, there were hundreds of people and a huge party going on. Today, there were 9 cars in the lot and 3 people skiing OL when I rode the quad.
Rime: Crappy the whole way. Tons of ice and slush. One spot was OK, but it only lasted for 500 feet or so and it was just a small area to the side.
East Glade: Same as Rime.
East Fall: First tracks at 9 AM were great. By the afternoon, it was in similar shape to Superstar.
Bunny Buster/Chute: Upper Bunny Buster was friggen nice all day. Probably the best on the mountain. Chute was crappy until after the Bowling Alley.
Last run of the season was Great Northern top to bottom. I tried to make it as long as possible, but I regretted when I was poling across the base at the end.
Well, unless I get back up to K this month, that was likely it for the season. Ended up with 31 days, so I got my goal of 30. Next Year: I want to ski Sugarbush, MRG, Killington, Stowe, Burke, Jay, Ragged, Sunapee, and Beast. I also want to get to Wawa more during the week.
